A call for improved collaboration between faculties of language and translation education

Abstract

Abstract Translator education and language education have remained relatively disconnected and isolated despite the great value they potentially bring one another, even within academic departments which bring both areas of teaching within their scope. This action-research study examines an attempt by a translation instructor (TI) and an English language instructor (ELI) to ‘team teach’ translation, exploring how team teaching creates new opportunities for students’ overall development as translators and language learners. Working within an understanding of Gile’s sequential model of translation (2009) the TI and ELI adopted separate pedagogical roles, for the most part, based upon their areas of expertise. However, these roles overlapped in ‘acceptability tests’ and when ‘translator’s creativity’ was called for, and these practices suggest the greater potential of team teaching to elevate the learning and development of students, creating opportunities for students to more deeply examine issues of translation and language. Nurturing the creativity of students may be an especially productive area in which translation education and language education can be productively intertwined. This study is an example of team teaching within translation classes and, ideally, will contribute to further explorations of how these practices can be effectively implemented and examined.